Fidel Castro, Former Cuban President (1926–2016) Biography

Fidel Castro orchestrated the Cuban Revolution and was the head of Cuba's government until 2008.

 Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz commonly known as Fidel Castro, was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. Politically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration Cuba became a one-party socialist state; industry and business were nationalized, and state socialist reforms implemented throughout society.

1926: Born in the south-eastern Oriente Province of Cuba

1953: Imprisoned after leading an unsuccessful rising against Batista's regime

1955: Released from prison under an amnesty deal

1956: With Che Guevara, begins a guerrilla war against the government

1959: Defeats Batista, sworn in as prime minister of Cuba
 
1961: Fights off CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles

1962: Sparks Cuban missile crisis by agreeing that USSR can deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba

1976: Elected president by Cuba's National Assembly

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1992: Reaches an agreement with US over Cuban refugees

2008: Stands down as president of Cuba due to health issues

2016: Cuban state television announced just after midnight on November 26, 2016, that Castro had died in Santiago de Cuba. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.His brother and President Raúl Castro confirmed the news in a brief speech: "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 [EST] this evening."